They landed when the German had spent his third offensive and was at the

gates of Paris. Almost the first news which they received after they had

settled on foreign soil was that Paris, the magic city which they had

come so far to see, was destined to fall into the hands of the German.

Albeit Chateau Thierry, the turning point of the decisive struggle of

1918, was only achieved when, for the war, a total of more than a

million black men of four continents had been annihilated, the 92nd

Division was eager for the fray--was anxious to tread the field of

action for the sake of honor, and recognition and equality. It was at

Chateau Thierry, on a day soon after the arrival of the 92nd Division in

France, that Foch, the eminent generalissimo, but then an almost unknown

quantity, again gave voice to laconicism: "The offensive shall begin and

shall continue. Bring up the colonials!" America was thrown into battle

holding honored position beside Gouraud's invincible Africanders. The

Hun was halted in his tracks, thrown back across the second Marne, and

hunted like a wolf over the Hindenburg line and into his native lair.

Soissons, Rheims, Verdun, St. Dizier and Chemin des Dames, all saw Negro

troops of the United States in violent action. In the Marbache, at Belie

Farm, and in the Bois de Tege d'Or, the Negro guard regiments and the

Negro 92nd Division went over and at the Hun.

At Voivrette Farm and in the Bois de Frehaut, other troops of this same

division smote German super-man hip and thigh. In Voivrette Woods and in

the Bois de Cheminot, at Moulon Brook and Seilie Bridge and Epley the

92nd Division again victoriously contested the field of honor, against

the best soldiers Prussia might afford. From July until November, their

brothers of the Negro guard regiments, of Negro pioneers and Negro

casuals were within earshot of the murderous rumble of contending

artillery. By November 8 every command in the Negro American division,

including the units of guard, had more than once or twice been at the

front or over the top and at them.

Ralph W. Tyler, of Ohio, a Negro on the staff of General Pershing,

representing the Bureau of Public Information, says of Hill 304:

"I have learned that Hill 304, which the French so valiantly held,

and which suffered such a fierce bombardment from the Germans that

there is not a single foot of it but what is plowed up by shells,

and whose sides, even today, are literally covered with the corpses

of French soldiers who still lie where they fell, was later as

valiantly held by the colored soldiers from the United States, who

fought with all the heroism and endurance the best tradition of the

army had chronicled. The colored soldiers who held that bloody and

ever historical Hill 304 had the odds against them, but like

Tennyson's immortal 'Six Hundred,' they fought bravely and well,

firm in the belief 'it was not theirs to reason why--it was theirs

to do and die.' And like the patriots they were, they did DO, and

this war's history will so record."

The Prussian, at last, sought safety in flight. Britisher, Frenchman,

Italian, Portuguese, Canadian, black and white American were at his

heels. Italy created a debacle in Austria. And then, wonderful news came

through of what was happening in the Near East.

It had been impossible for the Negroes of America to come to France and

preserve the nicely calculated adjustments which England had set up

through the years. The East Indian, the Arabian, the Egyptian could not

but observe, and observing, fail to understand why American Negroes

could be entrusted in command of troops, if they were not given the same

recognition and honor and equality. Quietly England prepared them all.

Under General Allenby and dark-skinned officers of the East, the black

Caucasians and the brown Caucasians and the yellow Caucasians fell upon

the Turk, until, regardless of his German master, he cried aloud for

terms. The horde of dark-skinned captors of Turkey, under the British

supreme command, threatened and attacked Bulgaria, who quickly

succumbed. So came the Turkish armistice, and the Bulgarian armistice

and the Austrian armistice.

The Prussian fled from the field of battle. He was not swift enough.

Brought to bay, he cried for mercy. All of the Negro American force was

to be hurled at him in the greatest stronghold of the world, Metz. He

pleaded with the American President for armistice, and was referred to

Marshal Foch. It was the great war hero, with the Hohenzollern house of

cards tumbled about him, who decided that for three days, until November

11, fighting must continue, and that in those last hours the Germans

must feel at the hands of all the allies the severest punishment that

could be meted within a limited time. Britishers, Frenchmen, men of all

allied nations sought the honor. The American Negro could not be denied.

Although regiments of Negro guard and of the 92nd Division had but

recently been in action for a period of from three to five weeks, they

craved the honor of being out in front at the stern and bitter end. It

was practically the entire Negro fighting force of America which, under

its own officers, went over the top at daybreak on the final morning of

the great four years' struggle, side by side with white men of various

nationalities, who, like them, were ready and most fit for sacrifice or

service. In the last hours, when life seemed sweeter than all creation,

there thousands of black men of all regiments overseas fell in search of

the coveted honor of being nearest Berlin as the thunderous crash and

din ceased, to roll no more. Hours before the order came for the supreme

and final sacrifice, Negro signal men had caught from the air the

message which indicated what was to be their special honor. There was

not a man to desert or seek asylum elsewhere. All went over the top

together!

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918,

the order came to cease firing. The 92nd Division of Negro troops stood

at Thann and before Metz, in advance of the progress of troops of all

America. The ground which they trod had not been occupied by other than

German troops in 40 years. It was the field of honor, and recognition

and equality, and must be theirs of necessity. Nature had ruthlessly

perfected this type of black native-born American for the high duties

of a soldier. The war was over. Allies and Americans said to him:

"As brothers we moved together--as brothers--to the dawn that

advanced--to the stars that fled--rendering thanks to God in the

highest, that He, having hid His face through one long night behind

thick clouds of war, once again will ascend above us in the vision

of perpetual peace."

The Negro felt that, as the ancient Romans were too faithful to the

ideal of grandeur in themselves not to relent, after a generation or

two, before the grandeur of Hannibal, so he will not ever be the mere

son of a peri.

The Negro knew that he could do one thing as well as the best of men--a

greater thing than Milton or Marlowe or Charlemagne ever did--he could

die grandly the death. Face forward on the flats of Flanders, in Picardy

and Lorraine he died grandly, to make the world safe for democracy. For

we of America must remember, in all our getting on and up in the world,

that, as a psychological weapon, the bristling bayonet was incomplete

until a stalwart, desperate black Negro American citizen got behind it

to fight, not for his gain, but for the uplift of the masses of

humanity.

The war was over. It was still a small voice within that told the Negro

hosts: "As this hath been no white man's war, neither shall it be a

white man's peace."

THE AFTERMATH.

But yesterday the nation tried to think of the Negro as a southern

problem, the solution of which belonged to statesmanship of the South.

Often we have endeavored to think of him as a national problem, and have

tried to persuade the national government to take in hand matters of

widespread national interest wherein he was involved. But now we must of

necessity think of the Negro as an international problem, ramifications

of which are bound up in the roots of aspiration and kindred feeling and

powerful potentiality of Frenchman and Britisher, of Asiatic and Slav,

and of the great bodies of darker peoples of all the world.

As the Negro becomes an international problem, no single section of a

country can be entrusted with the administration of matters pertaining

to him. Such administration may be assigned by international conclave to

a particular country as its national problem, but the proper channels of

administration of international policy will be up from sectional caucus,

through national agency to the international parliament, and down from

such parliament or league, through national agencies to the section

involved. And, furthermore, sectional caucus, unless it would fail in

policies of its advocacy, and suffer modification by the Congress or

parliament of its central governmental administration, must henceforth

regard the Negro not as an aggregate all in a mass, but as a synthesis,

composed of gradations from lowest to superior. This is the new concept

which the war of 1918 has forced upon America, in spite of the bias of

1914.

Civilization left the parting of the ways when Woodrow Wilson's rallying

cry for world democratization led America into the war. It decided to

seek the path of Peace not along the lines of permitted autocracy, but

of firmly and thoroughly well administered democracy. In administering

democratic government, Negro regiments, graded from private to superior

officer, came first as an academic proposition, and, finally, as an

actuality. They came four hundred thousand strong. No group of that

number can longer be considered as a mere accumulation of black men. One

hundred thousand Negroes of the 92nd Division and regiments of guard

have been commanded on the field of action by black headmen, with white

headlight. They have taken their objectives with speed and control and

the management of both of these elements of transfused morale has been

in the hands of colored college men or their military equals.

The hour of decision to make the world safe for democracy was the crisis

of civilization. Victory on the fields of France has been the

satisfactory denouement. The question naturally arises: Shall there be a

happy ending of the great drama for the white American and a tragic

ending for the Negro? Or, rather, as the American brotherhood gathers

about the charmed circle and smokes the pipe of peace, shall the Negro

report: "I see and am satisfied?"

In other words, shall the 92nd Division of Negro fighters and the

greater hosts of black war workers overseas, return to America with

honor in theory, but not pursued in fact to its logical finality? Shall

these black bulwarks of the business of world war find the door of the

business world of peace slammed in their faces? Shall these black

survivors of terrific struggle for world democracy return home only to

be declared unfit to vote an American ballot? Shall the black soldier

hero be allowed to take his croix de guerre into a jim-crow car? Shall

the black Red Cross nurse, rushing to the aid of benighted humanity

regardless of color, be refused accommodation at places of public

proprietorship whither she may seek rest or refreshment? Tragedy begets

tragedy. Seventeen seventy-six begot 1861, and 1861 begot 1914.

The times demand decisive action. Sociological error, committed today,

will cause malformation of an important member of the American body

politic. It will cause the ship of state to ride an uneven keel. This

ship of state must be brought to her ancient moorings, the Declaration

of Independence, the Gettysburg Address of Lincoln, and the Farewell of

Old John Brown on the scaffold.

The tumult has died. Revelry and shouting fill every program. Is the

Negro to return unheralded to homeland, and with his eyes to the hills,

undergo patting and pitying and be given a place in the corner? Or are

the colored boys in khaki to announce their return by a vigorous

knocking at the gate? Shall they have cause to cry to America: "A house

divided against itself cannot stand!" And shall they knock and knock and

knock until America sets herself to wonder what has this army Negro to

do that he becomes so unceremonious? Or shall they find the gate wide

open and triumphal arches erected in every section of the country in

their honor to signify that defeat of German autocracy means

democratization of every section of the entire world? An international

conscience demands for the Negro hero a happy ending of it all.

The Negro looks to the military agencies of America to produce a genuine

peace wherein he may live happy ever after. Regarded in America as the

most alien of aliens before the war, he demands recognition today as the

most loyal of loyalists. But yesterday Anglo-Saxon prejudice persisted

in viewing him as a physical alien, a mental alien, a moral alien and a

social alien. The Negro is willing to discuss no further this

prejudicial conception of himself forced home by libelous propaganda and

by governmental administration for hundreds of years, if the agencies of

reconstruction will perfect and put in operation a vigorous

Americanization policy in his behalf.

Military life has taught the Negro the advantage derived from the use of

pure food and balanced ration. It has taken him from the ghetto into the

pure air of the open country, and filled his lungs with deep draughts of

the free breezes of France. It has removed him from the temptation to

imbibe the beverage that destroys human faculties and has accustomed him

in a measure to the beneficial use of purified water. It has undertaken

through carefully selected work, exercise and recreation to perfect the

habits of digestion, assimilation and elimination. The result has been

indeed marvelous. No America Negro who went to fight for humanity will

return to America as the same physical being. No American will dare

stand before the returned Negro trooper and say: "Behold a sub-species

of mankind, wooly of hair, long of head, with dilated nostrils, thick

lips, thicker cranium, flat foot, prehensile great toe and larkheel.

Yea, behold him, dark of skin, whose mentality is like unto a child, and

closely related to the anthropoid ape; whose weight of brain is only

comparable to that of the gorilla." Where is the American who will dare

stand before any Negro trooper returned from France and thus mock and

deride him? Military agency has completely destroyed the physical

concept which the white world had of the Negro in 1914, by placing him

in the focus of Caucasian binocular vision, wherein his better

attributes become visible in their synthetic relation.

In addition, military life has sharpened the mental powers of the Negro

in command to meet the highest exactions of modern warfare. Colonel

Charles Denton Young, Negro graduate of West Point, if we may trust the

record, is capable of the same high character of mental processes as

John J. Pershing. Military test has proven before the world that the

Negro is no mental alien, but heir to all the ages of Anglo-Saxon,

Roman, Greek and Egyptian culture.

In France the American Negro has produced no notorious offenders against

civil or military usage. He has arisen to the moral concept of high

responsibility for the future of his race in the estimation of all

mankind. There is no story of moral degeneracy which has yet come from

abroad concerning him. Pitfall, temptation and opportunity for vice and

crime have all been shunned in light of preparation for the higher

service. The Negro has proven his power of moral restraint while guided

by leadership of his own color. As a social being he has sacrificed his

life for the highest form of social existence, democracy. Who, then, is

there to call him alien? Today he is no longer Negro, nor Afro-American,

nor colored American, nor American of African descent, but he is

American--simply this, and nothing more.

He has been raised to erect stature and made a man by the military

branch of the United States Government, because of signal service to the

American peoples. His prayer is that this military government long may

live as such to train the great mass which he calls kin into a synthetic

whole.

As he evolved from a student in a military training camp to military

leadership, so he desires the great military organization of America to

continue to exist, that through its agency he may attend the training

camps which lead to industrial, business, political and social success.

Universal military education for me and mine and all other Americans is

his slogan, and his aim is to recreate the America of the early

Seventies, which became hardened and callous through the years by reason

of resistance to the German menace of autocracy, but now removed.

This American has made good in public. He has demonstrated both

efficiency and initiative. He has compelled popular belief to conceive

him as a man. The Caucasian world he has caused to perceive that he

might function as a valuable and serviceable element of twentieth

century civilization. Will the Anglo-Saxon issue to him the warrant of

immunities and privileges certifying that he is four-square with the

dominant opinion of mankind, and, therefore, entitled to superior

status?

To this dark-skinned American are attributed all elements of beauty and

racial grandeur. Forever in survival of the world's most fit, he goes

on, blending readily with civilization's high ideal, philosophically

tolerating abuse offered by the less refined, effecting a racial

consciousness of purity in inter-social relationships, adapting himself

with symmetry and poise to the tasks of the world, and bowing in humble

respect before the higher laws whose harmonies order and rectify all

creation.

What will the black Rip Van Winkle behold as he walks through the

corridors of the American Department of State twenty years hence? Will

he behold a great black mass still at the veriest bottom of our

governmental organization, or will he be caused to marvel at the

synthetic gradations of black American from lowest to superior? As he

views progress in all departments of the government, will he see this

real American organized synthetically in all branches of the service, or

will he behold him still employed as the boy or the mere high private?

Time and the great heart of America will tell.

The center of gravity of world interest of 1914 has shifted and come to

rest at a spot most significant for darker peoples. Victory to all

participants in its glorious achievement must be less disastrous than

defeat. In order to satisfy the liberal opinion of the world, some form

of autonomy must be devised for the newly organized man in America.

Durable peace requires that American prejudice be utterly and forever

stamped out; first by the reconstructed organization of the American

Expeditionary Force, which beheld its organizations of every race and

creed under fire and in action; second, by the American people of every

locality, who have had forced upon them by world war the new concept of

a branch of the species once considered inferior; and, third, by the

powers of the world, who must prevent the upgrowths in America from

offering malignant germs of unrest to their own systems of national

government.

After the Negro has proved his value and worth in all of these trying

ways, when after this he asks for a full measure of equal rights, what

American will have the heart or the hardihood to say him nay?

THE NEGRO IN THE NAVY.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN NAVY--GUARDING THE

TRANS-ATLANTIC ROUTE TO FRANCE--BATTLING THE SUBMARINE PERIL--THE BEST

SAILORS IN ANY NAVY IN THE WORLD--MAKING A NAVY IN THREE MONTHS FROM

NEGRO STEVEDORES AND LABORERS--WONDERFUL ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OUR NEGRO

YEOMEN AND YEOWOMEN.

Stranger than fiction, the story of the organization, development and

expansion of the United States navy from a mere atom, as it were, to the

present time, when her electrically propelled men-of-war, equipped with

the most luxurious compartments and modern mechanism for despatch and

communication as well as her great merchant marine, floating the emblem

of freedom and democracy in every civilized port of the world, is one of

the most fascinating pages in the history of human achievement.

And, as it were, the very culmination of wonder and admiration, the

chain of events reciting the deeds of valor and unselfish devotion to

duty upon the part of her black sons, constitutes an illustrious record

easily marking its participants as conspicuous representatives of a

people, who have won their tardily conceded recognition in every phase

of American public life.

The services of the Negro in the American navy very properly begin with

the stirring and thrilling events of the American Revolution, which

terminated in the independence of the colonies and the establishment of

the United States.

THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

The Negro in the navy was then and has been ever since no less devoted

to duty and as fearless of death as Crispus Attucks, when he fell on

Boston Commons, the first martyr of American independence.

In speaking of colored seamen, who showed great heroism, Nathaniel

Shaler, commander of the private armed schooner _General Thompson_, said

of an engagement between his vessel and a British frigate: "The name of

one of my poor fellows, who was killed, ought to be registered in the

book of fame, and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is

considered a virtue. He was a black man by the name of John Johnson. A

twenty-four pound shot struck him in his hip, and took away all the

lower part of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the

deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates, 'Fire away, my boy!

No haul color down!' Another black by the name of John Davis was wounded

in much the same way. He fell near me, and several times requested to be

thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others. When America

can boast of such tars she has little fear from the tyrants of the

ocean."

British gold and promises of personal freedom served as futile

incentives among the Negroes of the American navy; for them, the proud

consciousness of duty well done served as a constant monitor and nerved

their strong black arms when thundering shot and shell menaced the

future of the country; and, although African slavery was still a

recognized legal institution and constituted the basic fabric of the

great food productive industry of the nation, it was the Negro's trusted

devotion to duty which ever guided him in the nation's darkest hours of

peril and menace.

NEGROES IN THE WAR OF 1812.

In the second period, the War of 1812, a second fight with Great

Britain, again made it necessary to call upon the Negro for his

assistance. Whether with Perry on Lake Erie, Commodore MacDonough,

Lawrence or Chauncey, the black man played his heroic and sacrificing

role, struggling and dying that American arms and valor, the security of

American lives and property, would suffer no destruction at the hands of

the enemy. The fine words of Commodore Chauncey, commending their

dauntless intrepidity and unswerving obedience and loyalty to the

rigorous demands of duty, should be read and carefully studied by all

men friendly to human excellence and courage.

COMMODORE CHAUNCEY'S TRIBUTE.

The following is a statement of Commodore Perry, expressing

dissatisfaction at the troops sent him on Lake Erie: "I have this moment

received by express the enclosed letter of General Harrison. If I had

officers and men,--and I have no doubt that you will send them,--I could

fight the enemy and proceed up the lake; but, having no one to command

the _Majestic_ and only one commissioned officer and two acting

lieutenants, whatever my wishes may be, getting out is out of the

question. The men that came by Mr. Champlin are a motley set,--blacks,

soldiers, and boys. I can not think that you saw them after they were

selected. I am, however, pleased to see anything in shape of a man."

The following is the reply from Commodore Chauncey to Commodore Perry in

answer to the above letter: "Sir, I have been duly honored with your

letters of the 23d and 26th ultimo and notice your anxiety for men and

officers. I am equally anxious to furnish you; and no time shall be lost

in sending officers and men to you as soon as the public service will

allow me to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not pleased

with the men sent you by Messrs. Champlin and Forest; for, to my

knowledge, a part of them are not surpassed by any seamen we have in the

fleet; and I have yet to learn that the color of skin, or the cut and

trimmings of the coat, can affect a man's qualifications and usefulness.

"I have nearly fifty blacks on board this ship, and many of them are

among my best men, and I presume that you will find them as good and

useful as any on board your vessel; at least if you can judge by

comparison; for those which we have on board this ship are attentive and

obedient, and, as far as I can judge, are excellent seamen. At any rate,

the men sent to Lake Erie have been selected with the view of sending a

proportion of petty officers and seamen and I presume upon examination,

it will be found that they are equal to those upon this lake."

THE COLORED MAN IN THE MEXICAN WAR.

In the Mexican War (1845-1848) we find him, in his humble positions of

service and usefulness, a positive factor in the final success and

triumph of American ideals. No insidious treacheries, no dark plots of

poison, arson and unfaithfulness characterized his conduct, and, in the

final and complete blockade of the Mexican ports, his contribution of

faithful and loyal service made effective the terms by which Generals

Scott and Taylor taught the ever-observed lesson of American dominance

upon the Western Hemisphere and thereby preserved the Monroe Doctrine.

IN THE DAYS OF THE CIVIL WAR.

In the Civil War--when the violence of domestic strife menaced the

continuance of the National Union; when the preservation of slavery

constituted the subject of angry and stormy debate in every section of

the country, it was in the navy, no less than in the army, that the

Negro evinced that dauntless fidelity to duty which aided in stabilizing

the discipline of the field forces, thereby effectively contributing to

the success not alone of forcing the Mississippi, and intersecting the

Confederacy, but also in hermetically sealing all Southern ports and

reducing to imperceptible insignificance the possibility of foreign

trade with the South,--a factor which made it doubly sure that Northern

arms would ultimately triumph and the Union be saved. It was a colored

man, Robert Small, who single handed, stole the Union cruiser _Panther_

from Charleston harbor, foiled the Confederate fleet, and navigated her

safely to a Union port. In all the annals of courage and dazzling

gallantry, this incident has been recited; and it constitutes a

commendable example, with many others, however, of devotion to duty and

undying love for freedom. Mr. Small became a successful business man,

and was one of the few Negroes who served in the Congress of the United

States.

THE NEGRO IN THE SPANISH WAR.

The Spanish-American War (1898-1900) also has its roll of honorable dead

and surviving heroes--it was a Negro who fired the first shot at Manila

Bay, from the cruiser _Olympia_, flag ship of the late Admiral Dewey,

commanding the American forces on the Asiatic station. He was John

Christopher Jordan, chief gunner's mate (retired) U.S.N. His career is a

fair example of the Negro's ability. He was first enlisted in the United

States navy on June 17, 1877, as an apprentice of the third class, the

very lowest rating in which he could have entered. He advanced, despite

opposition, through the different grades in direct competition with his

white shipmates to the grade of chief gunner's mate, the highest rating

that could be reached in the enlisted status.

It was not because of his lack of desire for further advancement that he

did not go higher, nor was it due to his not being qualified, for it was

conceded by all officers under whom he served that he was thoroughly

competent and highly qualified for advancement. He was finally

recommended by his superior officer for the position of warrant gunner,

and the papers passed up for final approval by the commander-in-chief of

the fleet, before being sent to the secretary of the navy. There he

encountered the Negro's most formidable foe--prejudice. That official

very unceremoniously forwarded the papers to the navy department with

the following endorsement: "Respectfully forwarded to the secretary of

the navy--disapproved. The explanation of disapproval will be found in

the applicant's descriptive list."

However, this slur did not deter Jordan in his determination to go

higher, for at the battle of Manila he was a gunner's mate of the first

class, and his record was so conspicuous that it could not go unnoticed

by the officials in Washington.

FINAL RECOGNITION.

The following letter was then addressed to Jordan's commanding officer

by the bureau of navigation: "The Bureau notes that John C. Jordan,

gunner's mate first class, has served as such with a creditable service

since August 6, 1899. The chief of bureau directs me to request an

expression of opinion from the commanding officer as to whether Jordan

possesses that superior intelligence, force of character and ability to

command, necessary for a chief petty officer and particularly as to

whether he is in all respects qualified for the position of chief

gunner's mate of a first-class modern battleship."

[Illustration: COLORED YEOWOMEN.

Employees of Navy Department, Washington, D.C.]

[Illustration: ROBERT McCRAY.

Seaman. Lost on the U.S.S. ALCEDO, November 5, 1917.]

[Illustration: LEWIS H. HARDWICK.

Mess Attendant, 3c, U.S.N. Lost on U.S.S. CYCLOPS, June 14, 1918.]

[Illustration: ERCELL WILLIAM MARTIN.

Mess Attendant, 3c, U.S.N. Killed when shell exploded on board U.S. Von

STEUBEN, March 5, 1918.]

[Illustration: PRINCE A. JOHNSON.

Mess Attendant, 2c, U.S.N.R.F. Died from exposure after Lake Moor was

sunk, April 11, 1918.]

[Illustration: HUBERT ALFRED JOHNSON.

Mess Attendant, 2c, U.S.N.

Lost when U.S.A.C.T. TICONDEROGA was torpedoed and sunk, September 30,

1918.]

[Illustration: LYNN COCHRANE.

Ship's Cook, 1c, U.S.N.R.F. Lost when U.S.A.C.T. TICONDEROGA was

torpedoed and sunk September 30, 1918.]

[Illustration: E. HARRISON.

Mess Attendant. Lost on the U.S.S. ALCEDO, November 5, 1917.]

[Illustration: HERMAN STALLINGS.

Ship's Cook, 2c, U.S.N.R.F. Accidentally drowned while in swimming, May

19, 1918.]

[Illustration: WILSON C. SAMPSON.

Fireman 1st Class, U.S.N. Commended for seamanlike conduct and services

rendered when boiler was disabled. S.S. MacDONOUGH, Oct. 27, 1916.]

[Illustration: ANDREW THEODORE ASKIN.

Mess Attendant 3c, U.S.N. Lost on U.S.S. CYCLOPS, June 14, 1918.]

[Illustration: EARLE B. WHITESELL.

Fireman, 3c, U.S.N. Lost on U.S.S. CYCLOPS, June 14, 1918.]

[Illustration: HENRY McCORKLE.

Mess Attendant, 3c, U.S.N. Killed on U.S.S. Von STEUBEN, April 10,

1918.]

[Illustration: WALLACE SIMPSON.

Employee U.S. Navy.]

[Illustration: HE WAS PATRIOTIC, TOO.]

The reply to this letter was to the effect that Jordan was in all

respects qualified, and by order of the secretary of the navy, he was

advanced to the grade of chief petty officer, filling this position with

efficiency to the service and with credit to his race, until December 1,

1916, at which time he was retired, after serving thirty years in the

navy of the United States. The following letter was addressed to him by

the secretary of the navy upon this occasion:

"The department desires to congratulate you upon the completion of

thirty years' service in the navy. The fact that you started as an

apprentice and now retire as a chief petty officer, your several

honorable discharges and good conduct medals, show that you were a

valuable man in the upbuilding of the navy, and while the department is

glad to know that you will now enjoy the benefits of the retirement law,

yet it regrets very much to see you retire from active life in the navy.

The department hopes that you will always take a lively interest in

naval affairs, and wishes you many years of good health and usefulness."

OTHER INSTANCES.

Another very interesting character of the navy during this period was

Mr. C.D. Tippett of Washington D.C., who enlisted in the navy in 1875,

and who served honorably and faithfully, until recently, when he was

retired for honorable service. Mr. Tippett enjoys the distinction of

having crossed the equator on two different occasions, and holds a

certificate from Neptune, a relic highly treasured by all naval men

fortunate enough to hold one.

It has been the object of the preceding paragraphs to briefly recite

some few instances of the Negro's activity in the American navy from its

beginning up to the present struggle. Space and time will not permit a

more detailed and accurate exposition of the many other cases equally as

interesting, instructive, and illustrative of the superb discipline and

devotion to duty of this race whenever and wherever called upon to

serve.

THE NEGRO SEAMAN IN THE WORLD WAR.

The extent of the Negro's work in the army and the record of its

brilliant achievements may in some degree obscure the service rendered

our country and its Allies by the Negro in the navy, but the Negro was

represented in this branch of the military service almost in the same

proportion, and, just as with Perry on Lake Erie, Farragut on the

Mississippi, Dewey at Manila Bay, Hobson at Santiago, and Peary at the

North Pole, he rendered efficient heroic and honorable service during

the World War. It must be remembered that our ships were a part of the

great war forces which kept open the highways of the deep and made

possible the final triumph of the Allied armies, for, had the command of

the ocean slipped from our hands those armies would have languished and

been beaten back for lack of support in men and material. Had the

sceptre of the seas passed to our foes, our own black boys would never

have inscribed on their banner the imperishable name of Chateau-Thierry,

The Argonne, and Hill 304. The one essential and indisputable element of

victory was the supremacy of the Allied fleet.

NEGROES IN THE GRAND FLEET.

The Negro's part in the organization of the Grand Fleet is far from

being inconsiderable, his services were utilized in the complement of

every vessel and shore station and at this time as in the past, black

blood was among the very first to be gloriously shed in the American

navy, that free government should live imperishably among the sons of

men.

On November 4, 1917, the _U.S.S. Alcedo_ proceeded to sea from Quiberon

Bay on escort duty to take convoy through the war zone; she had as

members of her crew two young Negroes, just in the prime of life and

patriotic to the core. It was the crew of this vessel that was first

called upon to make the supreme sacrifice. Robert McCray and Earnest

Harrison were their names, and the following report fully indicates the

manner in which they gave their lives in order that democracy might not

perish from the earth: "At or about 1:45 A.M., November 5th, while

sleeping in emergency cabin, immediately under upper bridge, I was

awakened by a commotion and immediately received a report from some man

unknown, 'Submarine, Captain.'

"I jumped out of bed and went to the upper bridge, and the officer of

the deck, Lieutenant Paul, stated he had sounded 'General quarters,' had

seen submarine on surface about three hundred yards on port bow, and

submarine had fired a torpedo, which was approaching. I took station on

port wing of upper bridge and saw torpedo approaching about two hundred

yards distant. Lieutenant Paul had put the rudder full right before I

arrived on bridge, hoping to avoid the torpedo. The ship answered slowly

to her helm however, and before any other action could be taken the

torpedo I saw struck the ship's side immediately under the port forward

chain plates, the detonation occurring instantly.

"I was thrown down and for a few seconds dazed by falling debris and

water. Upon regaining my feet I sounded the submarine alarm on the

siren, to call all hands if they had not heard the general alarm gong,

and to direct their attention of the convoy and other escorting vessels.

Called to the forward gun's crew to see if at stations, but by this time

realized that the forecastle was practically awash. The foremast had

fallen, carrying away radio aerial. I called out to abandon ship.

THE SINKING SHIP.

"I then left the upper bridge and went into the chart house to obtain

ship's position from the chart, but, as there was no light, could not

see. I then went out of the chart house and met the navigator,

Lieutenant Leonard, and asked him if he had sent any radio; he replied

'No.' I then directed him and accompanied him to the main deck and told

him to take charge of cutting away forward dories and life rafts. I then

proceeded along starboard gangway and found a man lying face down in

gangway. I stooped and rolled him over and spoke to him, but received no

reply and was unable to learn his identity, owing to the darkness. It is

my opinion that this man was dead. I then continued to the after end of

ship, took station on after gun platform.

"I then realized that the ship was filling rapidly and her bulwarks

amidships were level with the water. I directed the after dories and

life rafts to be cut away and thrown overboard and ordered the men in

the immediate vicinity to jump over the side, intending to follow them.

Before I could jump, however, the ship listed heavily to port, plunging

by the head and sunk, carrying me down with the suction.

STRUGGLE IN THE WATER.

"I experienced no difficulty, however, in getting clear and when I came

to the surface I swam a few yards to a life raft, to which were clinging

three men. We climbed on board this raft and upon looking around

observed Doyle, chief boatswain's mate, and one other man in the whale

boat. We paddled to the whale boat and embarked from the life raft. The

whale boat was about half full of water and we immediately started

bailing and then to rescue men from the wreckage, and quickly filled the

whale boat to more than its maximum capacity, so that no others could

be taken aboard. We then picked up two overturned dories which were

nested together, separated them and righted them, only to find that

their sterns had been broken.

"We then located another nest of dories, which were found to be

seaworthy. Transferred some men from the whale boat into these dories

and proceeded to pick up other men from wreckage. During this time cries

were heard from two men in the water some distance away who were holding

on to wreckage and calling for assistance. It is believed that these men

were Earnest M. Harrison and John Winne, Jr. As soon as the dories were

available, we proceeded to where they were last seen but could find no

trace of them.

"About this time, which was probably an hour after the ship sank, a

German submarine approached the scene of torpedoing and lay to, near

some of the dories and life rafts. She was in the light condition, and

from my observation of her I am of the opinion that she was of the

U-27-31 type. This has been confirmed by having a number of men and

officers check the silhouette book. The submarine was probably one

hundred yards distant from my whale boat, and I heard no remarks from

anyone on the submarine, although I observed three persons standing on

top of conning tower. After laying on surface about half an hour the

submarine steered off and submerged. I then proceeded with the whale

boat and two dories searching through the wreckage to make sure that no

survivors were left in the water. No other people being seen, at 4:30

A.M. we steered away from the scene of disaster. The _Alcedo_ was sunk,

near as I can estimate, seventy-five miles west true of north end of

Belle Ile. The torpedo struck ship at 1:46 by the officer of the deck's

watch and the same watch stopped at 1:54 A.M. November 5th, this

showing that the ship remained afloat eight minutes. The flare of

Penmark Light was visible, and I headed for it and ascertained the

course by Polaris to be approximately northeast We rowed until 1:15,

when Penmark Lighthouse was sighted. Continued rowing until 5:15 P.M.,

when Penmark Lighthouse was distant about two and one-half miles. We

were then picked up by French torpedo boat number 257, and upon going on

board I requested the commanding officer to radio immediately to Brest

reporting the fact of torpedoing and that three officers and forty men

were proceeding to Brest. The French gave all assistance possible for

the comfort of the survivors. We arrived at Brest about 11 P.M. Those

requiring medical attention were sent to the hospital and the others

were sent off to the _Panther_ to be quartered. Upon arrival at Brest I

was informed that two other dories containing Lieut. H.R. Leonard,

Lieut. H.A. Peterson, P.A. Aurgeon, Paul O.M. Andreae, and twenty-five

men had landed at Pen March Point. This is my first intimation that

these officers and men had been saved, as they had not been seen by any

of my party at the scene of torpedoing."

DISAPPEARANCE OF THE CYCLOPS.

The next contribution of life on the part of the Negro in the American

navy was made when the U.S.S. war vessel _Cyclops_ so mysteriously

disappeared. Loaded with a cargo of manganese, with fifty-seven

passengers, twenty officers, and a crew of two hundred and thirteen

enlisted men (twenty-three of whom were Negroes). The vessel was due in

port March 13, 1918. On March 4, the _Cyclops_ reported at Barbadoes,

British West Indies, where she put in for bunker coal. Since her

departure from that port there has not been the slightest trace of the

vessel, and long continued and vigilant search of the entire region

proved utterly futile, as not a vestige of wreckage has been discovered.

No responsible explanation of the strange and mysterious disappearance

of this vessel has ever been given by the officials of the Navy

Department. It was known that one of her two engines was damaged, and

that she was proceeding at reduced speed; but, even if the other engine

had become disabled, it would not have had any effect on her ability to

communicate by radio.

Many theories have been advanced, but none seems to account

satisfactorily for the ship's complete vanishment. After months of

search and waiting, the _Cyclops_ was finally given up as lost and her

crew officially declared dead. This vessel was under the command of a

German-born officer, who, prior to his connection with the Navy

Department, was an officer of the merchant marine. Many accusations were

made reflecting upon his loyalty. Some even going as far as suggesting

that he had intimidated the crew and delivered the vessel into the hands

of the enemy; but, it is strange to note that none of these insinuations

was directed to the loyal and ever true Negroes who formed a part of its

crew and presumably went to their watery graves in order that German

militarism might be crushed.

What a strange episode if, indeed, these are the facts in this most

unfortunate incident. In intelligent circles, it should and will mark

the beginning of a period of racial justice and equity. When one's deeds

and character will invariably constitute the exponent of one's

appreciation.

THE NEGRO TRUE AND LOYAL.

Caucasian treachery in some of our national perils presented no charms

for the Negro whose proven fidelity everywhere and on every occasion

marks him the great American advocate in fact as well as in profession.

If these accusations should in the end prove true, which is highly

possible, would it not have been wiser on the part of the directors of

our naval policy, when the urgent pressure for manpower to officer the

expanding navy of the United States asserted itself, to have recognized

the ability and merit of scores of black men, whose years of faithful

and efficient service in the navy of the United States and unquestioned

fidelity to duty justly entitle them to the command of a vessel of this

character, instead of utilizing the services of men of questioned

loyalty and doubtful allegiance to command our naval vessels? For such

an act of base and unpardonable treachery is unthinkable to a Negro.

Rather would he most willingly have seen his last drop of rich loyal

blood flow in torrents of effusion than to leave to his progeny such a

record of shame and infamy.

THE JACOB JONES.

Another incident in which the Negro displayed his constant willingness

to die for the cause of America and its ideals was when the United

States torpedo boat destroyer _Jacob Jones_ was destroyed by a torpedo

fired from a German submarine. This ship was one of six of an escorting

group which was returning independently from Brest, France, to

Queensland, Ireland. The following extract from the report of its

commanding officer gives in brief detail the manner in which the

majority of its crew met their death in an effort to uphold the

principles of democracy. On this vessel, as well as all others that were

lost, the Negro served, bled, and died, side by side with white men in a

desperate struggle to subdue the German U-boat.

"I was in the chart house and heard some one cry out, 'Torpedo.' I

jumped at once to the bridge and on the way up saw the torpedo about

eight hundred yards from the ship approaching from about one point abaft

the starboard beam headed for a point about amidships, making a

perfectly straight surface run (alternately broaching and submerging to

approximately four or five feet), at an estimated speed of at least

forty knots. No periscope was sighted. When I reached the bridge, I

found that the officer of the deck had already put the rudder hard left

and rung up the emergency speed on the engine room telegraph. The ship

had already begun to swing to the left. I personally rang up the

emergency speed again and then turned to watch the torpedo. The

executive officer left the chart house just ahead of me, saw the torpedo

immediately on getting outside the door, and estimates that the torpedo

when he sighted it was one thousand yards away, approaching from one

point, or slightly less, abaft the beam and making exceedingly high

speed.

"After seeing the torpedo and realizing the straight run, line of

approach, and high speed it was making, I was convinced that it was

impossible to maneuver to avoid it. The officer of the deck took prompt

measures in maneuvering to avoid the torpedo. The torpedo broached and

jumped clear of the water at a short distance from the ship, submerged

about fifty or sixty feet from the ship and struck approximately three

feet below the water-line in the fuel oil tank between the auxiliary

room and the after crew space.

THE SLOWLY SINKING SHIP.

"The ship settled aft immediately after being torpedoed to a point at

which the deck just forward of the after deck house was awash, and then,

more gradually, until the deck abreast the engine room hatch was awash.

A man on watch in the engine room attempted to close the water-tight

door between the auxiliary room and the engine room, but was unable to

do so against the pressure of water from the auxiliary room. The deck

over the forward part of the after crew space and over the fuel oil

tanks just forward of it was blown clear for a space athwartships of

about twenty feet from starboard to port, and the auxiliary room was

wrecked. The starboard after torpedo tube was blown into the air. No

fuel oil ignited and apparently no ammunition exploded.

"The depth charges in the chutes aft were set on ready and exploded

after the stern sank. It was impossible to get to them to set on safe as

they were under the water.

"As soon as the torpedo struck, it was attempted to send out an S.O.S.

message by radio, but the mainmast was carried away and antennae falling

and all electric power had failed. I then tried to have the gun sight

lighting batteries connected up in an effort to send out a low power

message with them, but it was at once evident that this would not be

practicable before the ship sank. There was no other vessel in sight,

and it was therefore impossible to get through a distress signal of any

kind. Immediately after the ship was torpedoed every effort was made to

get rafts and boats launched. Also, the circular life belts from the

bridge and several splinter mats from the outside of the bridge were cut

adrift and afterwards proved very useful in holding men up until they

could be got to the raft.

STRUGGLING MEN IN THE WATER.

"The ship sank about 4:29 P.M. (about eight minutes after being

torpedoed). As I saw her settling rapidly, I ran along the deck and

ordered everybody I saw to jump overboard. At this time, most of those

not killed by the explosion had got clear of the ship and were on rafts

or wreckage. Some, however, were swimming and a few appeared to be about

a ship's length astern of the ship, at some distance from the rafts,

probably having jumped overboard very soon after the ship was torpedoed.

"Before the ship sank, two shots were fired from No. 4 gun with the hope

of attracting the attention of some nearby ship. As the ship began

sinking I jumped overboard. The ship sank stern first and twisted slowly

through nearly one hundred and eighty degrees as she swung upright. From

this nearly vertical position, bow in the air, to about the forward

point, she went straight down. Before the ship reached the vertical

position the depth charges exploded, and I believe them to have caused

the death of a number of men. They also partially paralyzed, stunned, or

dazed a number of others, some of whom are still disabled.

SAFEGUARDING THE SURVIVORS.

"Immediate efforts were made to get all survivors on the rafts and then

get the rafts and boats together. Three rafts were launched before the

ship sank and one floated off when she sank. The motor dory, hull

undamaged but engine out of commission, also floated off and the punt

and wherry also floated clear. The punt was wrecked beyond usefulness

and the wherry was damaged and leaking badly, but was of considerable

use in getting men to the rafts. The whale boat was launched but

capsized soon afterwards, having been damaged by the explosion of the

depth charges. The motor sailor did not float clear, but went down with

the ship.

"About fifteen or twenty minutes after the ship sank, the submarine

appeared on the surface about two or three miles to the westward of the

raft, and gradually approached until about eight hundred or one thousand

yards from the ship, where it stopped and was seen to pick up one

unidentified man from the water. The submarine then submerged and was

not seen again.

BY MOTOR DORY TO THE SCILLY ISLANDS.

"I was picked up by the motor dory and at once began to make

arrangements to reach the Scillys in that boat in order to get

assistance to those on the rafts. All the survivors then in sight were

collected and I gave orders to one of the officers to keep them

together. The navigating officer had fixed the position a few minutes

before the explosion and both he and I knew accurately the course to be

steered. I kept one of the officers with me and four men who were in

good condition to man the oars, the engine being out of commission. With

the exception of some emergency rations and a half bucket of water, all

provisions, including medical kit, were taken from the dory and left on

the rafts. There was no apparatus of any kind which could be used for

night signalling.

"After a very trying trip, during which it was necessary to steer by

stars and by direction of the wind, the dory was picked up about 1 P.M.

by a small patrol vessel about six miles south of St. Mary's. The

commander informing me that the rest of the survivors had been picked

up. I deeply regret to state that out of a total of several officers and

one hundred and six enlisted men on board at the time of the torpedoing,

two officers and sixty-four enlisted men were killed in the performance

of duty. The behavior of the men under the most exceptional and trying

conditions is worthy of praise, and the following cases are a sample of

the spirit of the men under these conditions.

INSTANCE OF RARE SELF-DENIAL.

"One man removed parts of his clothing (when all realized that their

lives depended upon keeping warm), to try to keep alive men who were

more thinly clad than himself. Another man at the risk of almost certain

death, remained in the motor sailor and endeavored to get it clear for

floating from the ship. While he did not succeed in accomplishing this

act (which would have undoubtedly saved twenty or thirty lives) he stuck

to his duty until the very last. He was drawn under the water with the

boat, but later came to the surface and was rescued."

Wallace Simpson, a young Negro, was a petty officer aboard this vessel.

Young Simpson was a graduate of the high school, Denver, Colorado, and

at the call of his country, when but in the prime of his life, made the

supreme sacrifice in order that the world might be made safe for

democracy.

NEGRO FIREMEN AND COAL PASSERS.

It seems that fate always throws the Negro in a line of service wherein

he can by some method, peculiarly his own, have an opportunity to

display his ability, loyalty and usefulness, in spite of prejudice and

opposition. I particularly refer here to the positions of firemen and

coal passers, because of the physical strength required for work of that

kind. The Negro can serve better in the American navy in this capacity

than in any other, with the possible exception of the messman branch of

service; but, nevertheless, in the former positions he has a decidedly

better opportunity to bring into play originality and foresight, for the

fire-room is the life of the ship and especially so when attacked.

When one of the vessels of our navy had been hit with one torpedo from

an enemy submarine and was about to be hit with a second, the commanding

officer had the following statement to make: "I realized that the

immediate problem was to escape a second torpedo. To do so, two things

were necessary, to attack the enemy, and to make more speed than he

could submerged. The depth charge crew jumped to their stations and

immediately started dropping depth bombs. A barrage of depth charges

was dropped, exploding at regular intervals far below the surface of the

water. This work was beautifully done. The explosions must have shaken

the enemy up, at any rate he never came to the surface again to get a

look at us.

"The other factor in the problem was to make as much speed as possible,

not only in order to escape an immediate attack, but also to prevent the

submarine from tracking us and attacking us after nightfall.

"The men in the fire rooms knew that the safety of the ship and our

lives depended on their bravery and steadfastness to duty. It is

difficult to conceive a more trying ordeal to one's courage than was

presented to every man in the fire room that escaped destruction. The

profound shock of the explosion, followed by instant darkness, falling

soot and particles, the knowledge that they were far below the water

level, practically enclosed in a trap, the imminent danger of the ship

sinking, the added threat of exploding boilers--all these dangers and

more must have been apparent to every man below, and yet not one man

wavered in standing by his post of duty.

WONDERFUL DEVOTION TO DUTY.

"No better example can possibly be given of the wonderful fact that with

a brave and disciplined body of American men, white or black, all things

are possible. However strong may be their momentary impulses for

self-preservation in extreme danger, their controlling impulses are to

stand by their stations and duty at all hazards.

"In at least two instances in this crisis below, men who were actually

in the face of death did actually forget or ignored their impulse of

self-preservation and endeavored to do what appeared to them to be their

duty. One man was in one of the flooded fire rooms. He was thrown to

the floor and instantly enveloped in flames from the burning gases

driven from the furnaces, but instead of rushing to escape, he turned

and endeavored to shut a water-tight door leading into a large bunker

abaft the fire room. But the hydraulic lever that operated the door had

been injured by the shock and failed to function. Three men at work at

this bunker were drowned. If this man had succeeded in shutting the

door, the lives of these men would have been saved as well as

considerable buoyancy saved to the ship. The fact that he, though

profoundly stunned by the shock and almost fatally burned by the furnace

gases, should have had presence of mind and the courage to endeavor to

shut the door is a great example of heroic devotion to duty as is

possible for one to imagine. Immediately after attempting to close the

door he was caught in the swirl of inrushing water and thrust up a

ventilator leading to the upper deck.

STRANGE EFFECT OF THE EXPLOSIONS.

"The torpedo exploded on a bulkhead separating two fire rooms, the

explosive effect being apparently equal in both fire rooms, yet, in one

fire room not a man was saved, while in the other fire room two of the

men escaped. The explosion blasted through the outer and inner skin of

the ship and through an intervening coal bunker and bulkhead, hurling

overboard seven hundred and fifty tons of coal. The two men saved were

working the fires within thirty feet of the explosion and just below the

level where the torpedo struck.

"It is difficult to see how it was possible for these men to have

escaped the shower of debris, coal and water that must instantly have

followed the explosion. However, the two men were not only saved but

seemed to have retained full possession of their faculties. Both of them

were knocked down and blown across the fire room. Their sensations were

at first a shower of flying coal, followed by an overwhelming inrush of

water that swirled them round and round and finally thrust them up

against the gratings of the top of the fire rooms."

THE ATTACK UPON THE TORPEDO BOAT CASSIN.

Another instance of self-sacrifice and unparalleled heroism is contained

in the account of the attack upon the torpedo boat _Cassin_ by a German

submarine, while on patrol duty off the coast of Ireland. The following

is the story briefly related in the official report of her commanding

officer:

"When about twenty miles south of Minehead, at 1:30 P.M., a German

submarine was sighted by the lookout aloft four or five miles away,

about two points on the port bow. The submarine at this time was awash

and was made out by officers of the watch and the quartermaster of the

watch, but three minutes later submerged. The _Cassin_ which was making

fifteen knots continued on its course until near the position where the

submarine had disappeared. When last seen the submarine was heading in a

southeasterly direction, and when the destroyer reached the point of

disappearance the course was changed, as it was thought the vessel would

make a decided change of course after submerging. At this time the

commanding officer, the executive officer, engineer officer, officer of

the watch, and the junior watch officers were all on the bridge

searching for the submarine.

THE ATTACK.

"About 1:57 P.M., the commanding officer sighted a torpedo apparently

shortly after it had been fired, running near the surface and in a

direction that was estimated would make a hit either in the engine or

fire room. When first seen the torpedo was between three or four hundred

yards from the ship, and the wake could be followed on the other side

for about four hundred yards. The torpedo was running at high speed, at

least thirty-five knots. The _Cassin_ was maneuvering to dodge the

torpedo, double emergency full speed ahead having been signalled from

the engine room and the rudder put hard left as soon as the torpedo was

sighted. It looked for the moment as though the torpedo would pass

astern. When about fifteen or twenty feet away the torpedo porpoised,

completely leaving the water and sheering to the left. Before again

taking the water the torpedo hit the ship well aft on the port side

about frame one hundred sixty-three and above the water line. Almost

immediately after the explosion of the torpedo the depth charges,

located on the stern and ready for firing, exploded. There were two

distinct explosions in quick succession after the torpedo hit.

"But one life was lost. Osman K. Ingram, gunner's mate, first class, was

cleaning the muzzle of number 4 gun, target practice being just over

when the attack occurred. With rare presence of mind, realizing that the

torpedo was about to strike the part of the ship where the depth charges

were stored and that the setting off of these explosions might sink the

ship, Ingram, immediately seeing the danger, ran aft to strip these

charges and throw them overboard. He was blown to pieces when the

torpedo struck. Thus, Ingram sacrificed his life in the performance of a

duty which he believed would save his ship and the lives of the officers

and men on board."

TORPEDOING THE PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

One of the most spectacular and thrilling incidents of our naval warfare

in which more than a score of colored men bravely and heroically

participated, was the attack and sinking of the _U.S.S. President

Lincoln_, the commanding officer of which reports as follows:

"On May 31, 1918, the _President Lincoln_ was returning to America from

a voyage to France, and was in line formation with the _U.S.S.

Susquehanna_, _Antigone_, and _Ryndam_, the latter being on the left

flank of the formation and about eight hundred yards from the _President

Lincoln_. The ships were about five hundred miles from the coast of

France and had passed through what was considered to be the most

dangerous part of the war zone. At about 9 A.M. a terrific explosion

occurred on the port side of the ship about one hundred and twenty feet

from the bow and immediately afterwards another explosion occurred on

the port side of the ship about one hundred and twenty feet from the

stern, these explosions being immediately identified as coming from

torpedoes fired by a German submarine.

"It was found that the ship had been struck by three torpedoes, which

were fired as one salvo from the submarine, two of the torpedoes

striking practically together near the bow of the ship and the third

striking near the stern. The wake of the torpedo had been sighted by the

officers and lookouts on watch, but the torpedoes were so close to the

ship as to make it impossible to avoid them; and it was also found that

the submarine at the time of firing was only about eight hundred yards

from the _President Lincoln_. There were at the time seven hundred and

fifteen persons on board, some of these were sick and two men were

totally paralyzed.

COOLNESS AND DISCIPLINE.

"The alarm was immediately sounded and everyone went to his proper

station which had been designated at previous drills. There was not the

slightest confusion and the crew and passengers waited for and acted on

orders from the commanding officer with a coolness which was truly

inspiring. Inspections were made below decks and it was found that the

ship was rapidly filling with water, both forward and aft, and that

there was little likelihood that she would remain afloat. The boats were

lowered and the life rafts were placed in the water and about fifteen

minutes after the ship was struck all hands except guns' crews were

ordered to abandon the ship.

"It had been previously planned that in order to avoid the losses which

have occurred in such instances by filling the boats at the davits

before lowering them, that only one officer and five men would get into

the boats before lowering and that everyone else would get into the

water and get on the life rafts and then be picked up by the boats, this

being entirely feasible, as everyone was provided with an efficient

life-saving jacket. One exception was made to the plan, however, in that

one boat was filled with the sick before being lowered and it was in

this boat that the paralyzed men were saved without difficulty.

THE SHIP ABANDONED.

"The guns' crews were held at their stations hoping for an opportunity

to fire on the submarine should it appear before the ship sank, and

orders were given to the guns' crews to begin firing, hoping that this

might prevent further attack. All the ship's company except the guns'

crews and the necessary officers were at that time in the boats and on

the rafts near the ship, and when the guns' crews began firing, the

people in the boats set up a cheer to show that they were not

downhearted. The guns' crews only left their guns when ordered by the

commanding officer just before the ship sank. The guns in the bow kept

up firing until after the water was entirely over the main deck of the

after half of the ship.

"The state of discipline which existed and the coolness of the men is

well illustrated by what occurred when the boats were being lowered and

were about half way from their davits to the water. At this particular

time, there appeared some possibility of the ship not sinking

immediately, and the commanding officer gave the order to stop lowering

the boats. This order could not be understood, however, owing to the

noise caused by escaping steam from the safety valves of the boilers

which had been lifted to prevent explosion, but by motion of the hand

from the commanding officer the crews stopped lowering the boats and

held them in mid air for a few minutes until at a further motion of the

hand the boats were dropped into the water.

INSPECTED BY THE SUBMARINE.

"Immediately after the ship sank the boats pulled among the rafts and

were loaded with men to their full capacity and the work of collecting

the rafts and tying them together to prevent drifting apart and being

lost was begun. While this work was under way and about half an hour

after the ship sank, a large German submarine emerged and came among the

boats and rafts, searching for the commanding officer and some of the

senior officers whom they desired to take prisoners. The submarine

commander was able to identify only one officer, Lieut. E.V.M. Isaacs,

whom he took on board. The submarine remained in the vicinity of the

boats for about two hours and returned again in the afternoon, hoping

apparently for an opportunity of attacking some of the other ships which

had been in company with the _President Lincoln_, but which had, in

accordance with standard instructions, steamed as rapidly as possible

from the scene of attack.

"By dark the boats and rafts had been collected and secured together,

there being about five hundred men in the boats and about two hundred on

the rafts. Lighted lanterns were hoisted in the boats and flare-up

lights and signal lights were burned every few minutes, the necessary

detail of men being made to carry out this work during the night. The

boats had been provided with water and food, but none was used during

the day, as the quantity was necessarily limited, and it might be a

period of several days before a rescue could be effected.

THE RESCUE.

"The ship's wireless plant had been put out of commission by the force

of the explosion, and although the ship's operator had sent the radio

distress signal, yet it was known that the nearest destroyers were two

hundred and fifty miles away, protecting another convoy, and it was

possible that military necessity might prevent their being detached to

come to our rescue. At about 11 P.M. a white light flashing in the

blackness of the night,--it was very dark--was sighted, and very shortly

it was found that the destroyer _Warrington_ had arrived to our rescue

and about an hour afterwards the destroyer _Smith_ also arrived. The

transfer of the men from the boats and rafts to the destroyers was

effected as quickly as possible and the destroyers remained in the

vicinity until after daylight the following morning, when a further

search was made for survivors who might have drifted in a boat or on a

raft, but none were found, and at about 6 A.M., the return trip to

France was begun.

"Of the seven hundred and fifteen men present all told on board, it was

found after the muster that three officers and twenty-three men were

lost with the ship, and that one officer had been taken prisoner.

CONDUCT OF THE SUBMARINE COMMANDER.

"Although the German submarine commander made no offers of assistance of

any kind, yet otherwise his conduct for the ship's company in the boat

was all that could be expected. We naturally had some apprehension as to

whether or not he would open fire on the boats and rafts. I thought he

might probably do this, as an attempt to make me and other officers

disclose their identity. This possibility was evidently in the minds of

the men of the crew also, because at one time I noticed some one on the

submarine walk to the muzzle of one of the guns, apparently with the

intention of preparing it for action. This was evidently observed by

some of the men in my boat, and I heard the remark, 'Good night, here

comes the fireworks.' The spirit which actuated remarks of this kind,

under such circumstances, could be none other than that of cool courage

and bravery."

CAPTURED BY SUBMARINE, NAVAL OFFICER ESCAPES.

(Condensed from report by Lieutenant Edouard Victor M. Isaacs on his

capture and escape from a German prison camp.)

"The _President Lincoln_ went down about 9:30 in the morning, thirty

minutes after being struck by three torpedoes. In obedience to orders I

abandoned ship after seeing all hands aft safely off the vessel. The

boats had pulled away, but I stepped on a raft floating alongside, the

quarter deck being then awash. A few minutes later one of the boats

picked me up. The submarine U-90 returned and the commanding officer,

while searching for Captain Foote of the _President Lincoln_, took me

out of the boat. I told him my captain had gone down with the ship,

whereupon he steamed away, taking me prisoner to Germany. We passed to

the north of the Shetlands into the North Sea, the Skaggerak, the

Cattegat, and the Sound into the Baltic. Proceeding to Kiel, we passed

down the canal through Heligoland Bight to Wilhelmshaven.

"On the way to the Shetlands, we fell in with two American destroyers,

the _Smith_ and the _Warrington_, who dropped twenty-two depth bombs on

us. We were submerged to a depth of sixty meters and weathered the

storm, although five bombs were very close and shook us up considerably.

The information I had been able to collect was, I considered, of enough

importance to warrant my trying to escape. Accordingly in Danish waters

I attempted to jump from the deck of the submarine but was caught and

ordered below.

MADE A PRISONER OF WAR.

"The German navy authorities took me from Wilhelmshaven to Karlsruhe,

where I was turned over to the army. Here I met officers of all the

Allied armies, and with them I attempted several escapes, all of which

were unsuccessful. After three weeks at Karlsruhe I was sent to the

American and Russian officers' camp at Villinen. On the way I attempted

to escape from the train by jumping out of the window. With the train

making about forty miles an hour, I landed on the opposite railroad

track and was so severely wounded by the fall that I could not get away

from my guard. They followed me, firing continuously. When they

recaptured me they struck me on the head and body with their guns until

one broke his rifle. It snapped in two at the small of the stock as he

struck me with the butt on the back of the head.

PLACED IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.

"I was given two weeks' solitary confinement for this attempt to escape,

but continued trying, for I was determined to get my information back to

the navy. Finally, on the night of October 6th, assisted by several army

officers, I was able to effect an escape by short-circuiting all

lighting circuits in the prison camps and cutting through barbed wire

fences surrounding the camp. This had to be done in the face of a heavy

rifle fire from the guards. But it was difficult for them to see in the

darkness, so I escaped unscathed. In company with an American officer in

the French army, I made my way for seven days and nights over mountains

to the Rhine, which to the south of Baden forms the boundary between

Germany and Switzerland. After a four-hour crawl on hands and knees I

was able to elude the sentries along the Rhine. Plunging in, I made for

the Swiss shore. After being carried several miles down the stream,

being frequently submerged by the rapid currents, I finally reached the

opposite shore and gave myself up to the Swiss gendarmes, who turned me

over to the American legation at Berne. From there I made my way to

Paris and then London and finally Washington, where I arrived four weeks

after my escape from Germany."

The accounts and incidents heretofore mentioned are but a few of the

exceptionally meritorious cases, of the many, in which the devotion to

duty and the unquestioned heroism characterized the conduct of the Negro

under the galling fire of danger and death.

CAN NOT SPECIFY THE WORK OF THE NEGRO SEAMEN.

Primarily due to the difference in organization between the army and

navy of the United States, it is well nigh impossible to point out and

record with any degree of accuracy the signal and patriotic sacrifices

of any great body of Negroes as a unit in the naval service. While in

the army, where segregation and discrimination of the rankest type force

the Negro into distinct Negro units; the navy, on the other hand, has

its quota of black men on every vessel carrying the starry emblem of

freedom on the high seas and in every shore station. The operations of

the navy of the United States during the World War has covered the

widest scope in its history without a doubt. It carried the Negro in

European waters from the Mediterranean to the White Sea. At Corfu,

Gibraltar, along the French Bay of Biscay, in the English Channel, on

the Irish coast, in the North Sea, at Murmansk and Archangel, he was

ever present to experience whatever of hardships were necessary and to

make whatever sacrifices demanded, that the proud and glorious record of

the navy of the United States should remain untarnished.

WORK OF COLORED SEAMEN.

He formed a part of the crew of nearly two thousand vessels that plied

the briny deep, on submarines that feared not the under sea peril, and

wherever a naval engagement was undertaken or the performance of a duty

by a naval vessel, the Negro, as a part of the crew of that vessel,

necessarily contributed to the successful prosecution of that duty; and,

whatever credit or glory is achieved for American valor, it was made

possible by the faithful execution of his duty, regardless of his

character. For, on a battleship where the strictest system of

co-ordination and co-operation among all who compose the crew is

absolutely necessary, each man is assigned a particular and a special

duty independent of the other men, and should he fail in its faithful

discharge the loss of the vessel and its enterprise might possibly

result.

TRAINING FOR SERVICE.

Far be it from the intention of this article to condone the existing

policy of the navy of the United States as regards the Negro, where

unwritten law prescribes and precludes him from service above a

designated status. It is well known that no Negro has ever graduated

from the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, which is

primarily essential to receive a commission as a line officer of the

navy. It is true that some three or four Negroes have attempted to

complete the course of instruction at this academy, but, their

treatment, as a result of race prejudice, made their efforts futile, as

well as their stay there more miserable than a decade of confinement in

a Hun penitentiary. Intimidation, humiliation, and actual physical

violence, notwithstanding their determination, finally resulted in the

conclusion to abandon the coveted goal of becoming officers in the great

navy of the United States.

It is also known that notwithstanding the urgent pressure for

experienced men to officer the expanding navy as a result of the World

War, it became necessary to commission hundreds of men, who as a result

of their experience as enlisted men, are temporary officers. But none of

these commissions was given to a Negro, despite the fact that scores of

them had rendered honorable service of from ten to twenty years and were

exceptionally qualified as stated by their commanding officers for these

commissions. During the war there were approximately eleven thousand men

commissioned as officers. A great majority of this number were

commissioned as pay clerks, paymasters, medical officers, and other

ranks, wherein no technical naval knowledge or experience is required.

And it is strange to note that not a single Negro received one of these

commissions.

INSUFFICIENT NUMBER OF OFFICERS.

In his annual report to the Congress of the United States, the secretary

of the navy department made the following statement: "The regular navy

personnel as it existed at the beginning of the war has been repeatedly

combed for warrant officers and enlisted men competent for advancement

to commissioned rank, and this source furnished experienced and capable

officers. But more were needed and they came from new recruits. It early

became evident that as the new men came into the service they should be

tried out for officer qualifications and that those having talent should

receive special instruction to prepare them for officer duty. Officer

material schools were hastily improvised in the various naval districts

at the outbreak of war to train the new men coming in, etc."

In the face of the above admission of the serious shortage of qualified

men, it can not be understood why the awarding of commissions was made

to inexperienced white boys with no prior naval experience or

demonstrated ability in preference to the Negro, who has demonstrated

his fitness and ability by years of faithful service in every phase of

naval activity to which he has been given access.

GERMAN PROPAGANDA EFFORT.

But, in spite of these outward and open acts of prejudice and

oppression, the Negro never wavered in the loyal performance of any

duty, however humble or arduous with which he was charged. And it might

be mentioned that these acts of oppression were brought to his attention

and emphasized by subtle German propagandists, who hoped to alienate his

affections and devotion from his native country. As an example of this

diabolical scheme, the following letter, which was dropped from German

balloons over a sector held by Negro troops, in September, 1918, is

quoted:

"To the Colored Soldiers and Sailors of the United States: Hello, boys!

What are you doing over here? Fighting the Germans? Why? Have they ever

done you any harm? Of course, some white folks and the lying

English-American papers told you that the Germans ought to be wiped out

for the sake of humanity and democracy. What is democracy? Personal

freedom, all citizens enjoying the same rights socially and before the

law. Do you enjoy the same rights as the white people do in America, the

land of freedom and democracy? Or, are you not rather treated over there

as second-class citizens? Can you go into a restaurant where white

people dine? Can you get a seat in the theatre where white people sit?

Can you get a berth or a seat in the railroad car, or can you even ride

in the South in the same street car with white people? And how about the

law? Is lynching and the most horrible crimes connected therewith, a

lawful proceeding in a democratic country?

"Now, all this is entirely different in Germany, where they do like

colored people, where they treat them as gentlemen and as white men, and

quite a number of colored people have fine positions in business in

Berlin and other German cities. Why, then, fight the Germans only for

the benefit of Wall Street robbers and to protect the millions they have

loaned to the English, French and Italians? You have been made the tool

of the egotistical and rapacious rich in England and America and there

is nothing in the whole game for you but broken bones, horrible wounds,

spoiled health, or death. No satisfaction whatever will you get out of

this unjust war. You have never seen Germany. So you are fools if you

allow people to make you hate us. Come over and see for yourself. Let

those do the fighting who make the profits out of the war. Don't allow

them to use you as cannon fodder. To carry a gun in this service is not

an honor, but a shame. Throw it away and come over to the German lines.

You will find friends who will help you along."

THE PROPAGANDA FAILS.

Such a piece of infamous treachery scarcely deserves comment; for, if

the Negro had been the least inclined to be a traitor, he could not

forget the atrocious treatment accorded the black man in the African

colonies controlled by Germany. For the Negro well remembers the

treachery of von Trotha, who invited the Herero chiefs to come in and

make peace and promptly shot them in cold blood. And the words of his

cruel and inhuman "Extermination Order" directing that every Herero man,

woman, child or babe was to be killed and no prisoners taken. All of

which had the sanction of Berlin.

But, aside from his intimate knowledge of German treachery and

duplicity, a still higher principle inspired the Negro; for to forget

the loyalty to his own native country in this hour of trial and darkness

would be scandalous and shameful and would blacken the Negro in the eyes

of the whole world. Of this class of treachery, the Negro is absolutely

incapable. They have endured some of the greatest sacrifices and

humiliations that could be demanded of a people, but, they always have

kept before them ideals, founded on loyalty and devotion to duty, and

never, in their darkest days, have they sought to gain their ends by

treasonable means. For the path of treason is still an unknown path to

the Negro. Their duty and their conscience alike bade them be faithful

and true to their government and their flag in this hour of darkness and

trouble.

NUMBER OF NEGROES ENGAGED.

During the World War, there were approximately ten thousand Negroes who

voluntarily enlisted in the navy of the United States. They were

distributed throughout the various ratings of the enlisted status. Many

of them were chief petty officers who had rendered years of faithful

service and were regarded as experts in their profession, and,

consequently, played an important part in the organization and function

of the battle units. In the transport service, his powerful physical

endurance and strength made him a determining factor in the Herculean

efforts to supply men, munitions, and provisions for the battlefields of

France. In order to appreciate the magnitude of his service, let us

briefly note the following facts:

Two million American fighting men were safely landed in France. To do

this the transport force of the Atlantic fleet of the United States had

to be utilized. At the outbreak of the war the transport force was

small, but it now comprises twenty-four cruisers, forty-two troop

transports, and scores of other vessels, manned by three thousand

officers and forty-one thousand enlisted men, two thousand of whom are

Negroes.

PERIL AND DANGER.

To think of the peril and dangers of this service at best, even in peace

times, seamanship is a comfortless and cheerless calling. But in war, to

the ordinary perils of the sea are added unusual hardships which reach

their maximum in the dangers and perils of the war zone--the attack

without warning of the invisible foe whose presence is too frequently

known only by a terrific explosion, which casts the hapless crew adrift

on surging seas, leagues from a friendly shore. Think of the terrific

strain under which these men perform their perilous tasks. Gun crews on

continuous duty, ever ready with the shot that might save the ship; the

black men below in the fire room, expecting every moment to receive the

fatal blast which would entrap them in a hideous death; the watch,

ceaseless in its vigil by day and by night, peering through the darkness

and the mist, conscious that upon their alertness depended the lives of

all. Yet under these conditions of unprecedented hardships every black

man performed his duty with the highest degree of courage and

self-sacrifice.

We will mention one of the many instance of the matchless intrepidity of

the men engaged in this hazardous service. In September, 1918, a

transport with several hundred sick and wounded soldiers on board, was

torpedoed when a short distance out from Brest. Thirty-six men of the

fire room met their death in the fire and steam and boiling water of the

stokehold. With two compartments flooded, their comrades dead and dying,

with a seeming certainty that the attack would continue, which would

mean that every man in the compartment where the torpedo struck would be

drowned or burned to death. Yet despite all, when volunteers were called

for to man the still undamaged furnaces to keep up steam for the run

back to port, every man in the force stepped forward and said he was

ready to go below.

HARD AND GRINDING WORK.

There was nothing spectacular about this grinding duty. Winter and

summer, by day and by night, in the fog and in the rain and in the ice,

it demanded constant vigilance, unceasing toil, and extreme endurance.

The work of this dangerous service was endless and its hardships and

hazards are barely realized. During the winter storms of the north

Atlantic the maddened seas all but engulfed these tiny but staunch

transports, when for days they breasted the fury of the gale and defied

the very elements in their struggle for mastery. No sleep then for the

tired crew; no hot food; no dry clothes. Yet despite it all, with each

hour perhaps the last, with death stalking through the staggering hulls,

not a man--black or white--to the everlasting glory of the American

navy, not a man but felt himself especially favored in being assigned

that duty.

CEASELESS VIGILANCE.

Since this country entered the war practically all the enemy's naval

forces, except the submarines, have been blockaded in his ports by the

naval forces of the Allies, and there has been no opportunity for naval

engagements of a major character. The enemy's submarines, however,

formed a continual menace to the safety of all our transports and

shipping, necessitating the use of every effective means and the utmost

vigilance for the protection of our vessels. Concentrated attacks were

made by enemy U-boats on the ships that carried the very first

contingent to Europe, and all that have gone since have faced this

liability to attack. Our destroyers and patrol vessels, upon all of

which Negroes served in addition to convoy duty, have waged an unceasing

offensive warfare against the submarine. In spite of all this, our naval

losses have been gratifyingly small. Not one American troop ship, as

previously stated, has been torpedoed on the way to France, and but

three, the _Antilles_, _President Lincoln_, and the _Covington_, were

sunk on the return voyage.

GRATIFYING RESULTS OF NAVAL ACTIVITY.

Only three fighting ships were lost as a result of enemy action--the

patrol ship _Alcedo_, a converted yacht sunk off the coast of France,

November 5, 1917; the torpedo boat destroyer _Jacob Jones_, sunk off the

British coast, December 6, 1917, and the cruiser _San Diego_, sunk off

Fire Island, off the New York coast, July 18, 1918, striking a mine

supposedly set adrift by a German submarine. The transport _Finland_ and

the destroyer _Cassin_, which were torpedoed, reached port and were soon

repaired and placed back in service. The transport _Mount Vernon_ struck

by a torpedo on September 5th, proceeded to port under its own steam

and was repaired.

The most serious loss of life due to enemy activity was the loss of the

coast guard cutter _Tampa_, with all on board, in Bristol Channel,

England, on the night of September 26, 1918. The _Tampa_, which was

doing escort duty, had gone ahead of the convoy. Vessels following heard

the explosion, but when they reached the vicinity there were only bits

of floating wreckage to show where the ship had gone down. Not one of

the one hundred and eleven officers and enlisted men of her crew were

rescued; and though it is believed she was sunk by a torpedo from an

enemy submarine, the exact manner in which the vessel met its fate may

never be known. Among the number of men lost on this vessel were at

least a score of black men. Taking into consideration all the dangers

and difficulties attending this service of the transport force, the

comparatively light casualty list is eloquent testimony of an efficient

personnel organized and trained under a wise administrative command.

THE NEGRO IN THE MERCHANT MARINE.

Now let us briefly consider the contribution of the Negro to the

construction and development of the merchant marine, a force vitally

essential to the successful prosecution of the war. When America entered

the war, it is a well-known fact that her merchant marine was

insignificant; and, to respond to the urgent appeal of France and her

allies to hurry men, provisions and munitions, a gigantic task of

constructing the necessary ships stared her in the face. For the Germans

at this time were making a desperate effort to starve England, France

and the other Allies by destroying their commerce with America and the

world, by a resort, as was brazenly announced to the world, to a

heartless campaign of ruthless submarine warfare. Therefore, the very

first efforts of the United States were to use every power of the navy

to destroy and neutralize the effect of the lurking submarine and enter

upon a policy of ship construction, which in its gigantic magnitude and

comprehensiveness was unprecedented.

The manner in which the Negro generously contributed to the

effectiveness of this policy is well known to all the world. For the

very first record breaking riveting feat was won by a Negro crew at

Sparrows Point, Maryland. His ability in this field of endeavor was ably

demonstrated in all of the great industrial plants in which his services

were so generously utilized. Heretofore, he had been debarred from

identification in the capacity as a laborer in these plants; but, now,

that war in all of its desperation was threatening the very existence of

the country, the barriers of prejudice gave way and he again proved the

falsity of the statement that the Negro could not handle machinery. The

managers of great shipbuilding plants along the Atlantic seaboard

testified before the Federal Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board that

Negroes had worked on machines, gauged to as fine a degree as one

one-thousandth of an inch with perfect satisfaction.

WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENTS.

To the achievements of the navy, in erecting great training camps,

destroyer and aviation bases, hospitals, in training thousands of men

for oversea duty, the army of merchant ships, the building of a vast

fleet of smaller vessels, the construction of great warehouses at home

and abroad, the manufacture of heavy guns and their mounts, the

production of powder and technical ordnance must be added the most

spectacular achievement of all--the repair of interned German ships, in

all of which the Negro participated with zeal and enthusiasm and in

many instances won the admiration and commendation of his superior

officers.

When these vessels, many of them of the largest type of trans-Atlantic

liners, were taken over by our government, it was found that the

machinery of several had been seriously damaged by the maliciously

planned and carefully executed sabotage of the crews. The principal

injury was to the cylinders and other parts of the engines, and, as the

passenger ships were potent factors in the transportation of troops,

their immediate repair was of vital necessity. Nothing daunted by the

magnitude of the task, our navy undertook the repair of these broken

cylinders by employing the system of electric welding, and so successful

was this work, in which scores of black men were utilized, that during

all the months of service in which these vessels have been engaged, not

a single defect has developed.

HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE.

All honor to the officers who risked their professional reputations and

carried forward to complete success and accomplishment, which expert

engine manufacturers considered impossible; and all honor to the

patience, zeal, industry and intelligence of the noble band of laborers

whose persistence and ceaseless endeavor made possible the

accomplishment of these world-renowned examples of constructive and

inventive American genius.

Let us not forget the mighty and tireless work of those in the

department whose efforts were as assiduous as their success was

complete. From the humblest yeowoman upward to the secretary of the

navy, through the bureaus and their chiefs, all were animated by the

same spirit of energy, of foresight, and determination to place the

fleet on the highest basis of efficiency and strength. In this generous

and sacrificing spirit, black men and black women, working side by side,

shared in proportion and never wavered or faltered in the task of

measuring up to the expectations of those whose confidence and regard

are so highly esteemed.

GENEROUS RECOGNITION OF SERVICE.

Another just and appreciated evidence of the generous recognition with

which the consistency and faithfulness of his service was awarded, may

be noted in the organization and development of the muster roll section

of the bureau of navigation of the navy department. Owing to a

widespread demand upon the part of the citizens of the country shortly

after we entered the war, for accurate and specific information

concerning the whereabouts of their kinsmen in the naval service, a

demand which it was practically impossible to comply with in view of the

ancient methods in vogue at the time in the file section of the bureau

of navigation, and in further view of the fact of the unprecedented

expansion of the enlisted personnel of the navy, the secretary of the

navy found it absolutely necessary to convene a conference of all the

officials who had any positive and direct knowledge as to the details

and operation of the file section.

This was done in order to evolve out of the multiplicity of seasoned

counsel a competent and successful solution of the very important and

grave problem which so heavily weighed upon the mind of the civil

population of the country, when they were offering freely upon its altar

their most treasured blood, as a precious sacrifice. Indeed, so

important and so urgent became the necessity for an immediate and

satisfactory solution of this problem that there was no evasion in a

high browed manner of any creditable source of needed information.

Accordingly, the bureau of navigation, in obedience to the inevitable

expansion necessitated in all the bureaus of the navy by the exigencies

of war, determined to organize and operate a muster roll section,

charged primarily with the duty of apprehending the present whereabouts

of every man of the enlisted personnel in a systematic and scientific

manner.

ORGANIZATION OF THE MUSTER ROLL SECTION.

The execution of the very essential duty of chief of the muster roll

section was entrusted to John T. Risher, a colored man, to whom was

given plenary power to engage and select his corps of assistants. Of

course, Mr. Risher determined immediately in the face of all opposing

precedents, to fully utilize the services, abilities and talents of the

colored youth of the country, upon whose educational development

millions of dollars had been spent in the past. In consequence, more

than a dozen young colored women have been engaged in the capacity of

yeowomen in this muster roll section. This is quite a novel experiment,

as it is the first time in the history of the navy of the United States

that colored women have been employed in any clerical capacity. And it

may be noted that while many young colored men have enlisted in the mess

branch of the service, it was reserved to young colored women to invade

successfully the yeoman branch, thereby establishing a precedent. They

are all cool, clear-headed and well-poised, evincing at all times, in

the language of a white chief yeowoman: "A tidiness and appropriate

demeanor both on and off duty which the girls of the white race might do

well to emulate." The work of this section has proven highly efficient

and satisfactory, as the plans in vogue there under its modern

management are both scientific and accurate. Many of the superior

officials have scrutinized the experiment very closely and are a unit in

the sincerity of their admiration of its success and effectiveness.

PERSONNEL OF THE MUSTER ROLL SECTION.

The personnel of the muster roll section is divided in three classes, to

wit:

(a) Civil service employes, who are Messrs. Albert D. Smith of Texas;

David C. Johnson of Texas; George W. Beasley of Massachusetts, and W.T.

Howard of Louisiana. All of the above have had years of valuable

experience and are considered expert in all matters pertaining to the

enlisted personnel of the navy of the United States.

(b) Yeowomen, who are as follows: Misses Armelda H. Greene of

Mississippi; Pocahontas A. Jackson of Mississippi; Catherine E. Finch of

Mississippi; Fannie A. Foote of Texas; Ruth A. Wellborn of Washington,

D.C.; Olga F. Jones, Washington, D.C.; Sarah Davis of Maryland; Sarah E.

Howard of Mississippi; Marie E. Mitchell, Washington, D.C.; Anna G.

Smallwood, Washington, D.C.; Maud C. Williams of Texas; Carroll E.

Washington of Mississippi; Joseph B. Washington of Mississippi; Inez B.

McIntosh of Mississippi.

(c) Young men of the naval reserve force, who are: Messrs. William R.

Minor of Virginia; L.D. Boyd, Brown Boyd of Virginia; Minter G. Edwards

of Mississippi; Fred Jolie of Louisiana; M.T. Malvan, Washington, D.C.;

U.S. Brooks; Thomas C. Bowler; Albert L. Gaskins, Washington, D.C.;

Daniel Vickers of Alabama, and Mr. Fuller.

SIGNING OF THE ARMISTICE.

On November 11, 1918, there came that long expected and welcome message

announcing to an anxious and war-weary world that an armistice had been

concluded, by the terms of which actual hostilities were to cease.

On November 21, 1918, five American dreadnaughts were in that far-flung

double line of Allied ships, through which passed in surrender the

dreadnaughts, cruisers and destroyers of the second most powerful navy

in the world. When Admiral Beatty sent his famous signal, "The German

flag is to be hauled down at 3:57 and is not to be hoisted again without

permission," the work of our navy as a battle unit in the war zone was

over. And the following tribute from Gen. John J. Pershing,

Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, was

sent to the commander of the United States naval forces: "Permit me to

send to the force commander, the officers, and men of the American navy,

in European waters, the most cordial greetings of the American

Expeditionary Force. The bond which joins together all men of American

blood has been mightily strengthened and deepened by the rough hand of

war.

"Those of us who are privileged to serve in the army and navy are to one

another as brothers. Spaces of land and sea are nothing where a common

purpose binds. We are so dependent one upon another that the honor, the

fame, the exploits of the one are the honor, the fame, the exploits of

the other. If the enemy should dare to leave his safe harbor and set his

ships in battle array no cheers would be more ringing, as you and our

Allied fleets move to meet him, than those of the American Expeditionary

Forces in France. We have unshaken confidence in you and are assured

that when we stand on the threshold of peace your record will be one

worthy of your traditions."

Eloquent and memorable, indeed, are these beautiful sentiments expressed

in behalf of every man, black and white who had the rare good fortune to

be a participant in the conflicts of these illustrious and ever

memorable times. They should be indelibly carved upon the heart and soul

of every loyal citizen, whose anxiety to serve his day and generation

easily outvies all other sentiments of which he is capable.

RETURN OF THE VICTORIOUS FLEET.

Out of the mist and the snow of the morning of December 26, a great

battle fleet entered the harbor of New York and in the majesty of its

power steamed past the Statue of Liberty. It came as a messenger of a

conflict won, a silent victory, but a triumph as complete and

overwhelming as any ever won by the American navy.

Too high a tribute can not be paid the black men of the American navy,

who faced the dangers of war and the perils of the sea with exalted

courage and unfaltering determination. Their loyalty and patriotism have

never been questioned, their valor and heroism never doubted. By their

deeds they have added new lustre to the glorious annals of the American

navy and have fully demonstrated that the color of the skin is but a

feeble indication of the depth of love and affection with which the

heart and soul of every loyal black man of America beats in sympathy

with the loftiness of her ideals.